Robert Downey Jr. Rumored to Play Pinocchio, Geppetto in New Ben Stiller Movie

One of the most recent rumors on the casting circuit sees Robert Downey Jr. trading in his iron gauntlets for a wooden puppet.

Bleeding Cool reports that Warner Bros. originally wanted Tim Burton to helm a new Pinocchio film and, for a brief time, the Alice in Wonderland director was attached to direct with Hannibal’s Bryan Fuller writing the slightly nightmarish screenplay.

Then Jane Goldman was set to rewrite the script and somewhere along the line, Burton was dropped from the project. During an Iron Man 3 press junket, Downey Jr. said, “I want to make Pinocchio as a live action film and not resorting to ‘animation. I would like to do it with Ben Stiller ”

The report says Stiller is currently in negotiations to direct and the project is underway. It also states that Downey Jr. will play both a younger Geppetto and Pinnochio, but it’s not clear how Downey Jr. will pull the latter role off.